Citigroup Reaffirms Neutral Rating for Best Buy (NYSE:BBY)

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by analysts at Citigroup in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $70.00 price objective on the technology retailer’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $93.00. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 7.62% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Loop Capital reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group set a $105.00 price target on shares of Best Buy in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Best Buy from $106.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on Best Buy from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Best Buy in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.22.

Best Buy Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of BBY opened at $75.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Best Buy has a twelve month low of $67.51 and a twelve month high of $103.71.

Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The technology retailer reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $13.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.69 billion. Best Buy had a return on equity of 45.93% and a net margin of 3.01%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.72 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Best Buy will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Best Buy news, insider Todd G. Hartman sold 4,893 shares of Best Buy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.65, for a total value of $355,476.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,348,048. The trade was a 13.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mathew Watson sold 3,182 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total value of $226,844.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,370,051.22. This trade represents a 14.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,355 shares of company stock valued at $5,767,213. 0.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stevens Capital Management LP raised its position in Best Buy by 228.7% in the fourth quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 22,625 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 15,741 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Best Buy in the 4th quarter worth $3,293,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Best Buy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,982,608 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $1,971,908,000 after purchasing an additional 191,161 shares in the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Best Buy by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 26,400 shares of the technology retailer’s stock valued at $2,265,000 after purchasing an additional 8,640 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its position in Best Buy by 424.0% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 26,200 shares of the technology retailer’s stock worth $2,248,000 after buying an additional 21,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.96% of the company’s stock.

About Best Buy

Best Buy Co, Inc engages in the retail of technology products in the United States, Canada, and international. Its stores provide computing and mobile phone products, such as desktops, notebooks, and peripherals; mobile phones comprising related mobile network carrier commissions; networking products; tablets covering e-readers; smartwatches; and consumer electronics consisting of digital imaging, health and fitness products, portable audio comprising headphones and portable speakers, and smart home products, as well as home theaters, which includes home theater accessories, soundbars, and televisions.